Sins of Thought

Winston Smith is an intellectual who lives in Airstrip One, Oceania. He works in the Minister of Truth and hates his leader Big Brother with passion. Smith is a sinner in many ways and he is punished for his crimes. His major crimes were having an illicit romance with Julia and rebelling against the government. Smith’s revolution began when he wrote “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER”, which would entitle him death because it was thoughtcrime. The Thought Police captured Winston, tortured him, re-educated him, and then reintegrated him to society. This man was kept alive (until he was shot and killed), but the rebellious Winston Smith died since he then loved Big Brother. If Winston Smith were in Dante’s Inferno he would be punished in the second ring of the ninth circle. This is Antenora, an ice city.

In Antenora reside the traitors to their homeland or their party. Instead of loving and admiring Big Brother’s totalitarian government, Smith rebelled against it. Smith would be frozen in ice in Anthenora for his eternity. His punishment would be very different from what he actually received in Oceania since there he was tortured and brainwashed. Hell would remind Winston of his sins every second of his eternity in hell. Brainwash and torture seem less harsh consequences because in Hell he had to be dead and Smith wasn’t killed for that. He was then assassinated, but after justice was made.

Crimes weren’t always discovered in Oceania, but in Hell there’s no escape. Inferno is a utopia because there’s no way of evading justice. Even though Winston Smith was killed, he paid for his thoughtcrimes and was not killed for them. Thoughtcrime was death but Smith was killed after he reestablished his life, while his ideology was killed in his re-education. Oceania was a dystopia were tyranny and fear where implemented by the government, but sometimes they were not enough to make them successful. Inferno proved me success.